Christmas Present Delivered

For Christmas this year Tim and I gave my parents a menu of food choices and a promise to make whatever they picked at an agreed-upon date in the near future. We promised that we would come to their house, prepare the meal in their kitchen, and do all the clean-up after the meal was over. This past Saturday was that date. Tim and I had a lot of fun buying the ingredients and preparing all of the food together, and it was fun to serve this meal to my parents. It was also so nice to be able to splurge on high quality ingredients because we were making this food especially for other people. My parents seemed to enjoy this treat, and I would definitely recommend this as a great gift option for your food-loving friends and family. It would be a great way to pamper someone who is too busy to treat themselves to a nice, fresh meal, or just someone who loves food.

The final menu selections were:

An appetizer of Mushrooms Stuffed with Brie

















-recipe here

These were really simple to make, and tasted really good! They were a nice start to the meal as their flavor was not too rich. The brie added a nice smooth flavor to the mushrooms and the parsley and green onion topping added just enough of a bite to make it interesting. This was super quick to pull together, and would be a great snack for a party.

A main course of Seared Steaks with Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onions
















-recipe here

These steaks have a rich, decadent flavor. The cheese adds a salty bite, but the large bed of caramelized onions adds just enough sweetness to balance it out. I am not a huge beef eater, but I love these.

The steaks were accompanied by Creamed Spinach
















-recipe here

This side dish was rich enough to hold it's own against the steak. I am usually too health conscious to indulge in something like this on a regular basis, but I did enjoy it. It is a great balance to the steak with a little crunch from the spinach, and a creamy texture to help smooth out any leftover saltiness from the steak. This gave the meal a real steak house feel.

For dessert, my mom got something that she has been wanting to try since I originally posted about it in July. She shares my love for peanut butter and jelly, so she knew she had to have the PBJ cupcakes when she was picking her dessert.
















-recipe here

If you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, you need to try these. Comfort food goes to a new level with these babies. Add a big glass of milk and you are all set.

I also brought along some dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. These were not as good as the PBJ's but they were a good way to use up my extra peanut butter frosting. It would be a travesty to let that go to waste.